The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones.
Ezekiel 37:1
Words: Charles Wesley, Short Hymns (Bristol, England: E. Farley, 1762), Volume 2, numbers 1272–74.
Music: Alford John B. Dykes, in Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1875 (🔊 pdf nwc).
Caught by th’Almighty hand,
That Spirit of the Lord,
Carried beyond myself I stand,
A witness of His Word;
I see the book unsealed,
Least of the prophets’ sons,
I mark Ezekiel’s valley filled
With visionary bones!
Many they are and dry,
Spread thro’ the open vale,
Millions of lifeless souls they lie
Within the Christian pale:
I pass the churches thro’,
The scattered bones I see,
And Christendom appears in view’
A hideous Calvary.
Can these dry bones perceive
The quickening power of grace,
Or Christian infidels retrieve
The life of righteousness?
All-good, almighty Lord,
Thou know’st Thine own design,
The virtue of Thine own great Word,
The energy divine.
Now for Thy mercy’s sake,
Let Thy great Word proceed,
Dispensed by whom Thou wilt, to wake
The spiritually dead;
Send forth to prophesy
Thy chosen messenger,
And Thou the Gospel word apply,
And force the world to hear.
Hear, ye dry bones, and feel
The word of truth and grace:
I will in you Myself reveal,
I will your spirits raise,
Jehovah speaks the word!
The promise is for you,
Ye shall be gradually restored,
And fashioned all anew.
Covered with flesh and skin
Ye shall your Savior know,
And find the breath of life within
Which I on all bestow;
The joyful news receive,
The grace to sinners giv’n,
The knowledge of your Lord, and live
The sinless life of Heav’n.